May 30, 2023 – UPDATE: On May 26, NYC Mayor Adams signed this bill into law, and it will go into effect 180 days later, on Nov. 22, 2023. Please feel free to reach out for steps your organization can take now to begin preparing.

On May 11, 2023, the New York City Council passed a bill which would prohibit height and weight discrimination within employment, housing and public accommodations under the New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL). As of this writing, the bill has been sent to Mayor Eric Adams for signature, who has 30 days to either sign the bill, take no action or veto it. If the mayor signs or takes no action, the bill becomes law and would take effect 180 days thereafter. In the event of a veto, the bill is sent back to the Council, which can override the veto with a two-thirds vote.

Read More >> NYC Council Passes Bill to Prohibit Height, Weight Discrimination

On March 3, 2023, a bill amending the New York State pay transparency law was signed into law by Gov. Hochul, reflecting changes that the governor requested in exchange for her approval of the law in December 2022. The effective date of the amendments are the same as the original version of law, Sept. 17, 2023.

Read More >> New York State Pay Transparency Law Amendments Signed into Law

In August 2021, the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) implemented an emergency regulation – 10 N.Y.C.R.R. § 2.61 (the Regulation) – requiring covered healthcare entities to ensure that their “personnel” are “fully vaccinated” against COVID-19. The NYSDOH Commissioner permanently adopted the regulation in June 2022. Commonly referred to as a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for healthcare workers, the Regulation has been the subject of several legal challenges in both state and federal courts.

Read More >> New York’s Healthcare Vaccine Mandate Comes Under Fire . . . Again

With 2022 nearing its end, many states and counties look to pass new employment laws and regulations at the turn of the year. While this is not intended to be a complete update of New York employment law, this article details a few highlights in this area.

Read More >> Wage Transparency Law and NYS Paid Family Leave Policy Updates

Changes are on the horizon for Albany County after the county Legislature passed several laws in October, including legislation meant to provide greater salary transparency for job seekers. Local Law “E,” sponsored by Albany Democrat Carolyn McLaughlin, requires county employers to post the minimum and maximum salary range when advertising an open position, promotion or transfer. Adopted on Oct. 11, 2022, this law amends Local Law No. 1 for 2013, “An Omnibus Human Rights Law for Albany County” and is set to go into effect 90 days after being signed by the Albany County executive. 

Read More >> Albany County Salary Transparency Law

Late last year, the New York City Council passed Local Law 144, which regulates employers and employment agencies’ use of “automated employment decision tools,” (AEDT), in making employment decisions. This new law is set to take effect on Jan. 1, 2023. In summary, the new law prohibits an employer or employment agency from using automated employment decision tools in making employment decisions unless, prior to using the tool, the following requirements are met: (1) the tool has been subject to a bias audit within the last year; and (2) a summary of the results of the most recent bias audit and distribution data for the tool have been made publicly available on the employer or employment agency’s website. Please see our prior blog post for a more thorough summary of the law.

Read More >> Updates on NYC AI Employment-Decision Tools

New York City’s new Salary Transparency Law will go into effect on Nov. 1, 2022. With this deadline for compliance fast approaching, we wanted to offer an update on the most recent guidance and interpretation to help our clients prepare for implementation of the new law.

Read More >> Reminder: NYC Salary Transparency Law – Effective Nov. 1, 2022

On August 3, 2022, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the Health Care and Mental Hygiene Worker Bonus program, also known as the HWB program. Enacted in New York’s Fiscal Year 2023 budget, the program allocates $1.3 billion for the payment of recruitment and retention bonuses to certain health care and mental hygiene workers. The bonus program is part of the state’s efforts to increase New York’s health care workforce by 20% over the next five years as a response to the staffing crisis seen during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Read More >> Initial Health Care Worker Bonus Requires Filing by September 2

On June 3, 2022, the New York State Legislature passed Senate Bill S9427/Assembly Bill A10477 (the Bill)—a new wage transparency law that would amend the New York Labor Law to add new Section 194-b. If enacted, the new law would require covered employers to disclose compensation or a range of compensation to applicants and employees upon issuing an employment opportunity for internal or public viewing, or upon employee request. The Bill is intended to enhance transparency around compensation and reducing any existing wage disparities among employees.

Read More >> New York Wage Transparency Law Passes Both Houses

On May 12, 2022, Mayor Adams signed into law the NYC Council Amendment to the recently enacted Salary Transparency Law. In addition to postponing the law’s effective date to Nov. 1, 2022, this amendment also clarifies three other aspects of the law:

Read More >> NYC Salary Transparency Amendment

On Jan. 15, 2022, the New York City council amended the City Human Rights Law to encourage equity and transparency in pay.¹ This amendment is part of larger national trend towards greater pay transparency. Several states have adopted similar laws, and the New York State legislature has introduced pay transparency legislation which is currently under consideration. On March 22, 2022, the City’s Commission on Human Rights issued guidance for employers providing some much-needed clarity in advance of the effective date. This blog post will outline the requirements of the new law, informed by that guidance, and it will provide recommendations for what employers can do now to get ready for this new compliance obligation.

Read More >> New York City Pay Transparency Law Update

The Fair Chance Act (FCA), which was added to the New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL) on Oct. 27, 2015, provides “fair chance” protections to workers with criminal convictions and limits when and to what extent employers can consider an individual’s criminal history in making employment decisions. On July 15, 2021, the New York City Commission on Human Rights (NYCCHR) issued new guidance¹ interpreting key amendments to the FCA that go into effect on July 29, 2021. 

Read More >> NYC Amends Fair Chance Act